Carey Price recorded a milestone win, Claude Giroux had a serious injury scare, and the Toronto Maple Leafs outshot a premier puck possession team — but still lost.
With eight games on the schedule, here are five things we learned Friday night:
Luongo has Sabres’ number:
The Buffalo Sabres don’t have much of an NHL offence these days, but that doesn’t discount Roberto Luongo’s flat-out dominance over the club. With his 30-save shutout Friday night, the Panthers goaltender improved to 6-0-0 with a .976 save percentage and 0.67 goals-against average in his last six decisions against the Sabres. Throughout that stretch, Luongo has blanked the Sabres in three consecutive starts and has recorded a shutout in four of his last five against Buffalo. They’ll need a different game plan the next time they face off against Florida.
Price gets to No. 200:
Canadiens goalie Carey Price earned his 200th career victory Friday night, becoming the third-youngest active goalie to do so. Only Marc-Andre Fleury and Martin Brodeur reached the milestone at a younger age. It’s amazing to think he’s already played 400 games, but the Canadiens have to be happy he has. Price is playing at an elite level, allowing just 11 goals in his past eight starts.
Refs are human, too:
Mike Leggo was in the headlines for the wrong reasons Friday night. The NHL referee caused a large delay in the Penguins-Lightning game after he threw up all over the ice (the highlight below is graphic). Leggo immediately left the game and instead of a usual four-man crew, the game finished with a three-man officiating crew with referee Paul Devorski and linesmen Steve Barton and Michel Cormier. Who said refs couldn’t make adjustments?
Should all NHLers wear kevlar socks?
Claude Giroux brought back painful memories of Erik Karlsson Friday night, but the Flyers forward was lucky to avoid a serious injury. According to his teammate Steve Mason, Giroux’s kevlar reinforced cut-proof sock is what saved Giroux from a potentially significant damage.
Because of that, it’s worth wondering whether the kevlar socks should be mandatory for all players. If player safety is a big concern, this could be a logical step to take.
Leafs running low on forwards:
It was pretty shocking to see the Maple Leafs outshoot a legitimate opponent, especially considering the forward group they ran out Friday night. Joffrey Lupul, Nazem Kadri, and Peter Holland are all dealing with various injuries and aren’t expected to return any time soon. Lupul could be out up to a month and Kadri is expected to miss up to 10 days. The Leafs will have to make due with players such as recent AHL call-up Gregg McKegg in the meantime.
